Hurricane Florence makes landfall in NC

Hurricane Florence slams North Carolina with hundreds waiting for rescue.

Although the storm has been downgraded to a category one, it continued sweeping across part of the southeastern United States on Friday, bringing powerful winds along with warnings of “life-threatening” storm surge and rainfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At 6 a.m. the center confirmed the storm was about to make landfall along the coast of North Carolina near Wilmington.

The storm has already stricken Morehead City and New Bern areas of North Carolina with reports of collapsed roofs and structures.

A reported 150 people are waiting to be rescued from their homes in New Bern, NC.

The eyewall of Florence is already onshore, according to the National Hurricane Center, and the storm’s center is currently about 10 miles east of Wilmington and about 80 miles north of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

At 7:15 a.m. reports said the storm is about to make landfall in Wrightsville Beach, NC with gusts up to 70 miles per hour recorded nearby Topsail Beach, NC.

Also, as many as 321,692 households in North Carolina currently lack power, according to the state emergency management department.